Join the Fight to Protect Wildlife

This week’sTake Action Thursdayurges action to promote the protection of wildlife and stop efforts to remove essential protections.

Hundreds of bills that impact animals are introduced in Congress each year. Some of them are beneficial to an animal’s well-being, while others threaten their wellbeing and very survival.

Federal Legislation

On the positive side, the Big Cat Public Safety Act, HR 1818 and S 2990, would prohibit the private possession, breeding and sale of any species of lion, tiger, leopard, cheetah, jaguar, cougar, or any hybrid of such species in interstate commerce. These bills address problems with private ownership of big cats, breeding animals to perpetuate the exotic pet trade, their use for public exhibitions and the sale of these animals to wildlife hunting preserves. This legislation would also hold violators civilly and criminally liable, imposing fines as well as the possibility of imprisonment.

Please ask your U.S. Senators and Representative to support the Big Cat Public Safety Act.TAKE ACTION »

In contrast, despite what its title may imply, the Saving America’s Vulnerable and Endangered Species (SAVES) Act,HR 2603 and S 2778, would, in fact, prohibit the application of U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections to animals who are not native to the U.S. This means that elephants, lions and even chimpanzees, among many other animal species, would no longer be eligible for protection under the ESA. Captive chimpanzees were only recently reclassified as “protected” under the ESA, helping end their use for harmful research. These bills would also make it difficult to regulate illegal wildlife trafficking by removing the domestic law that gives authority to U.S. officials to enforce the protections contained in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). If the ESA cannot be used as the basis to prosecute illegal trafficking crimes, then crimes threatening non-native wildlife will go unpunished.

Please ask your U.S. Senators and Representative to OPPOSE the SAVES Act.